Fresh Stone Harbor Fishing Reports

What a fun day out! Skel and I ran out to see what we might find. First stop was the reef. We spot locked over a pile of rubble and hauled up short sea bass, after short sea bass. I managed three blues and a triggerfish too. Made a move to o eof the wrecks, but it was barren. Ran a few miles further out and tried another wreck. We found more sea bass, but they were even smaller. The question burning in our minds was simple; push further out in search of bigger sea bass, or, run back inside and enjoy the bent rods? We ended up pushing further out. We found some sea bass pots and worked the area in between them. There were clouds of fish! We started off with bait, Mole crabs, clam, and squid. Then I changed up to jigging. Jigs were the ticket. Bigger fish and quicker results. While hauling up a ton of short sea bass, we slowly drifted close to one of the pots. We noticed some movement and realized there was a big school of little mahi holding to the structure. We tried chunks of peanuts, whole peanuts, and all sorts of lures. Skel managed to finally get one of the slightly larger mahi to bite his chunk. It bent the rod for about three seconds and spit the hook. I finally had enough. I ran back over to the little piece of rubble and dropped our jigs. We started right back where we left off. The sea bass were voracious, and for some reason, bigger. We hauled in fifteen keepers in short order, along with loads of shorts. I even got a big porgy. Unfortunately time wasn't on our side. I could've stayed out there all day. But, obligations take precedence over fun at times... The autumn bite is just getting started. The sea bass will be moving in as the water cools. The tog bite will get even better. Stripers are already holding around the back bay structures and will be migrating along our coast in due time. So much fun yet to come! Tight Lines!

Took a steady client and his boys out today. Wayne is always fun, whether we fish the beach, or on the boat. Dude just has a good sense of humor, and his kids are a blast. Today was a boat day. We raced out on calm seas to a nearshore lump and tried trolling. The 68 degree, green water didn't bode well, but we gave it a shot. I put out four rods with a Clark Spoon, a Gitcha, and two with little teaser skirt things (that's a technical term). We trolled around the lump between 5 and 7mph hoping so.ething would grab one of the offerings. No dice. On the plus side, I marked a ton of bait. Huge schools holding in the middle levels, super thick. When the water warms back up it should light up. Given the trolling thing didn't work out we ran back inside to the reef and set up drifts over ststructureThe fish were hungry here. Our rods got thumped often by hungry fish. We missed a lot, but we la ded quite a few too. All told the boys landed 16 flounder, with one keeper. Keeper honors go to the youngest, Luke. He handled that fish like a champ. Vin, the oldest, landed a sweet triggerfish. And between them they landed eight sea bass. And Wayne got one skate too. Lots of action, loads of fun. Hopefully things pick up when the water warms up again... Tight Lines!

Ran out this morning with Randy, his son Sean, and buddy Matt. The weather prognosticators finally got it right today, we had the calm seas they called for. The water was clear and warm too. Perfect conditions. We ran to the reef and set up our drift over some rubble. These guys were new to salt water fishing. So I explained the finer points; bounce your rod, give line to the fish when they hit, feel the weight and set the hook, don't reel all the way up, don't lift the fish out of the water,...and so on. It's a lot if you don't do it often. Getting the feel takes time. So, we drifted over the rubble, they got hits, missed, and gave out free meals to hungry fish. You're welcome PETA. Eventually they got the hang of it and started to pull up fish. Matt started things off with a sea robin. Then Sean got a sea bass and a sea robin. Around that time I decided to make a move and switch up tactics. We set up over a really large piece and I back trolled to hold us over various parts. The drift was slow anyway, but I figured it was worth a shot. It worked. Sean got a flounder. Then Matt got a keeper, but due to a SNAFU, it shook the hook. I won't mention any names...Matt! As was his usual today, Matt reeled up way too far and lifted. He was also tangled in Randy's line. The flounder saw it's chance and bolted. It was of course a nice sized keeper. To Matt's credit, he did land another keeper on a subsequent drift. He listened this time and it went into the box. Things slowed up on the rubble piles so we took a ride and spot locked over a wreck. We picked at sea bass and fed a bunch. While sitting there a school of striped fish took up residence beneath the boat. Not sure if they were pilotfish or banded rudderfish. We dropped small baited hooks down, even a jig, but they wouldn't touch anything. Would've been nice to catch one to see what they were. We called it a day when the bite slowed. I think a few of the boys were feeling a bit green beneath their gills too. But they endured the entire trip and did very well. We had a blast, and a lot of laughs. We won't discuss the ride behind Avalon in the no wake area... let's just say, there are some serious idiots driving boats out there. And I can't always hold back my 12 Guage, hair triggered mouth. The Coast Guard had a word with them, so all is right in the world. And overall, it was a great day! Tight Lines!

What a fun day! I had the pleasure of guiding CJ, Kim, Chase, and Lucia. We ran out into the ocean to see if we could spot some dolphins. It was a bit on the choppy side ( again), but manageable. Chase and Lucia were laughing their heads off enjoying the wild ride. CJ was a bit worried the kids wouldn't enjoy the ride, let alone the fishing. We had planned on going for two, maybe three hours. Suffice to say, we made it a bit over four. I offered the opportunity to fish one of the near shore wrecks, to see how the kids might like it. We spot locked over some structure and dropped our lines down. We were marking fish, or my sounder is a massive lying twat. We couldn't get them to bite though. They'd steal the baits, but you never felt a touch. We moved around to different pieces, but it was always the same. The wind kicked up a bit more and Kim decided it was time for us to head into the back to see what we could find. We drifted a few different areas and again encountered bait stealers. I put a Brown Dog Bomb kingfish rig on one of the rods and we finally broke the ice. Lucia, and then Chase hauled up a croaker each. And just that fast the bite turned off in that spot. We hit another area and drifted a sod bank. We started catching again. Lucia pulled up a few little sea bass, as did Chase. Then CJ finally kept his bait on long enough to pull up a flounder. It was short, but he had bragging rights for biggest fish. It was short lived. Chase hooked and landed a bigger flounder! It was about an eighth of an inch short of keeper size. There were a few more sea bass and croakers in the mix. But Chase ended up as the high hook on the day. The fishing wasn't stellar, but the fun and memories were beyond worth the time spent on the water. Lucia and Chase will be pestering mom and dad for a boat for sure. I hope they get one. They'll enjoy it for years! Tight Lines!

Ran out front with my friend Keith and his son Keith Jr. The maritime forecast was a bit off, imagine my surprise. It called for 2' at 12 seconds, which would've been a dream. Instead it was 2' with occasional 3's at maybe 1 second. It was manageable though. We had planned on going out to try our hand at trolling to see what we might find. Given the conditions we decided to stay closer and play with flounder. When we arrived on the reef we were greeted by an 8' hammerhead shark cruising along. It came up to the boat then slowly slid back down into the depths before we could get our phones out for a photo. Not sure how effective throwing a baited hook would've been, but that thought crossed our minds briefly. We set up on our first drift over some heavy rubble piles and found that the drift was rather fast. Spent the rest of the time backtracking rather than using the trolling motor. It worked as we picked at the flounder, sea bass, and weakies. All of which were short, of course. After we made a few drifts over that pile we moved on the next. Of course some nimrod in a blue boat decided that I knew where the fish were and followed me. And closely, never mind etiquette. I normally don't care if someone is close, it's usually crowded on the reefs. But I was one of six boats, not counting the two head boats there. Spread out! So Mr. Blue kept following me and staying close. Finally I said something, he acted like he couldn't hear me, but must've gotten the message as he moved away. Anyway, we continued to pick at shorts. We made one more move over a wreck. I spot locked over some choice structure and we tried for sea bass. It was dead at first, but then we started to pick at them. Then it died out again. We took a ride out to check out a buoy, but nobody was home. The wind was coming up some and the white caps were getting more pronounced. We called it a day and ran it back in. Really fun day out there catching up with Keith and I trouncing Jr. to inshore fishing. Pretty sure he's now hooked... Tight Lines!

What an absolutely gorgeous day out on the water. They called for fog, and there was fog. But it wasn't super heavy, and once you got through the inlet, it was gone. Two foot swell, with a few steep ones early on, but that calmed out nicely. And finally, the humidity was below lethal levels. Jeff and his crew were on board for some reef fishing. We ran out and worked over some rubble, and later, wrecks. The sea bass were thick! You barely reached the bottom before they were destroying your baits and Gulp. And all short. Every pile we worked over had sea bass. Every wreck too. We even tried a lump, and baits were stolen by sea bass there too. We managed to land two short flounder at least. And two triggerfish on back to back drifts. And of course a few skates had to make their presence known. There was no shortage of action. Baits were hammered every drop. While on the lump we had a big ray cruise past us. We also had a cobia come up and check us out. Then a school of something splashed on the surface and just as quickly vanished. All in all, it was a really fun and enjoyable day. Jeff and crew made for great company all morning. I'll get to sleep in tomorrow finally. Maybe I'll make it past 6am for once... Tight Lines!